Sunday, January 30, 2005

Oh man. Where to begin hey? First I would like to say that I haven't been neglecting my blog, it has been one of many things on a very long "To Do" list. And I honestly don't know where to begin. Depending on how much energy I can muster up, this could easily turn into a novel. Or at least a novella.
I guess I'll start small and work my way up.
MLK weekend I was in Colorado on our youth group's annual ski trip. It was wicked awesome. I don't think I've ever had snow that good. Even after 4 years off the slopes, I still picked up right where I left off, and had a killer time. I had a lot of good convos and "relationship building" with kids and friends. Our speaker was fantastic, and though our injuries were many, none were life threatening. We seriously had a lot of injuries. A broken shoulder, a torn ACL, a fractured LIVER (yes, liver), one girl got 15 stichest because her back got slashed open by a snowboard edge, and multiple rolled ankles and sore body parts. I wish you all could have been there. It was way too much fun.
The downside is that we got back late on a Monday night and classes started 8am tuesday morning. woo hoo. Ski trip is so killer too because it is so physically exhausting, you just become this zombie person and start to simply exsist without really engaging in anything. So I went to class Tuesday and Wednesday and my first class on Thursday, and then Liene and I headed out to West Phoenix (practically East So Cal) for the most amazing women's conference ever. It was the Fragrant Oil conference put on by Rita Springer and her ministry team. If you are a woman, you should check their website, http://www.fragrantoil.org, frequently to see if a conference is being held near you. And by near I mean like within 6 hours driving distance. Honestly, it will change your life. It changed mine. There are so many little details I could go into about this, and if you want to know feel free to email me and I'll go into it, but it's honestly really exhausting. God did so much. So so so much. All the crap that I had allowed to accumulate in my life over the past year, and all of the doubts, regrets, anger, cynicism I had held onto since Sydney is completely gone. I don't know how else to express it except to say that I left the weekend a completely different person. And that's just me. You want to know what's even cooler? Many of you know at least basically what has been going on in my friend Liene's life for about two and a half years now, and many of you have actually prayed and believed with me for her healing. Last Saturday at about 1am after I was completely asleep after the conference my phone started ringing and I answered it to Liene yelling, "I'm HEALED!!" Yeah. Completely healed. Totally healed. I still think about it all the time and can not wrap my head around it at all. God restored her to wholeness, and I believe is still going to return everything that was taken from her during that season and more. It's pretty freaking awesome. Our God is pretty freaking awesome. But honestly, if you ever get the chance to go to a Fragrant Oil conference or even to go to a church where one of those ladies is ministering...GO! They have completely opened themselves up to be used by God and He works through them in powerful, powerful ways.
And, basically nothing I say could top that, but I'll end with telling you that I got to lead worship in church today. First time in...well...over 2 years I guess that I've had an opportunity to lead the whole congregation. And it wasn't even that really, just the 2nd service. I have been fighting sickness all weekend and honestly, felt pretty crappy up there, but how true is it that in our weakness He is strong. If you ask God to use you, He will.
Actually, it's kind of weird. I've had a lot of people recently say that they feel that God is going to use me powerfully this year. Actually I think people have said that to L about the both of us, but just today I had 2 people say that to me independant of each other. And I've been thinking about that some recently and, I know that this may come across as completely arrogant, but I honestly say it with the hugest sense of humility and awe. I've always kind of known that I've been set aside to be used by God. Even as a little kid. See, I know that sounds so stuck up, but...I don't know I think it's true. I mean I think God has given everyone of His children gifts and we all have a part to play in the body and I know that He loves everyone the same, so it's not an issue of "God loves me more". I don't know I'd better stop. I can't articulate this well, and everyone's just going to end up thinking I'm a jerk. I swear I'm not. Unless you are a crap driver and you happen to be in front of me on the road. But even that God is redeeming.
So I guess that's what's been going on with me. And I think I'm out for now. I'll try to be back sooner next time. Things should be starting to settle down now.